I would like to go for Panasonic. But, i am afraid the prices r quite high

than the normal 599dollars. can u suggest abt shops in london (or any genuine

online websites) where i can get for the above price. Also, i found u stressing on the

factor IS in many postings. Is it very important for a beginner ( also I would like to

take photographs of landscapes and wildlife).........just in case if i go for olympus

765...bcoz of budget.

Thanking u,

Pavan.

If the FZ20 is too expensive, look for the FZ3. FZ3 is 3 megapixels (vs 5MP of the FZ20), has smaller LCD, has no manual focus, etc. However, the FZ3 is priced better and is comparable to other 3MP ultra-zooms like Canon S1 IS, Konica Minolta Z3, etc. FZ3 won't be as "high-end" as the FZ20 but it offers most features that an average person will use.

You may also want to wait a couple of months for the newly announced models (eg. Konica Minolta Z5, Panasonic FZ4/FZ5, Sony H1, etc) to come out. These may knock the price of the 2004 models a bit, or in some cases may offer a better deal .

Image stabilization (IS) is helpful at high-zooms, where handshake is more apparent. If you plan to use a tripod, IS is useless. Furthermore, IS only helps A BIT--it is not a magical feature that will let you take good pics at all times. IS also isn't that benefitial in good conditions (eg. bright sunny days, or outdoors in general). If you can get a good deal on a camera without IS, I wouldn't worry too much about it. But since prices between the ultra-zooms are close to eachc other, I would try to get a camera with IS. Right now, this limits you to Konica Minolta, Canon or Panasonic (and pretty soon Sony H1).

If budget is tight, wait a bit and see how prices react to the 2005 models (that will come out within one or two months).

I was in a similar situation like yourself, I ended up getting a C-765 from Amazon. High street prices cost way too much. Anyway its the cheapest 10x zoom
and smallest.

The cheapest 10X zoom will be Toshiba PDR-M500 (2MP) and Toshiba PDR-M700 (3.2MP). It's also the same size as C-765/770. A few days ago I saw from eBay someone bid and wonnew in box M500 for only $80. The bad thing is that Toshiba has been secretly out of digicam business for a year now. This makes Toshiba digicams' prices drop way down.Plus their quality tend to be lower than Olympus and other ultrazoom camera.

Without doubt, Panasonichas the best ultrazoom lineup. They seem to introduce a new ultrazoom every year.I suspect they will have another one this fall to replace the FZ-20.What do you guys think?